


My Dark Side

by ForestAngel20



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-12-06 11:52:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11600082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForestAngel20/pseuds/ForestAngel20
Summary: AU where Steve is a werewolf who's come home to find his father's killer and meets Detective Danny Williams, a man who makes his wolf both restless and calm. From there they form Hawaii Five-0 and begin to solve cases while Danny wonders what is so different about his partner and Steve struggles to tell Danny the truth. This is their story...





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own CBS, Hawaii Five-0 or the characters. I'm simply borrowing them as well as a tiny bit of dialogue. This is an AU story but there will be moments that are canon, especially the beginning, but it doesn't stay that way. I just needed the little bit at the beginning to establish the McDanno partnership.

Chapter 1

Steve could smell all the new scents before he even made it into his childhood house. Omegas, betas, alphas, and humans. All of their scents came together and made him uneasy. He could still smell his fathers comfortable scent. The scent of an alpha. His alpha. Who was now gone. He could also smell another alpha scent. Victor Hesse. The man who killed his father. He felt the sadness and grief come to the surface but he forced himself to swallow them down. He had a job to do, he needed to find his fathers killer. He got to work and found boot prints on the floor and a space on the table for a laptop. So Hesse wasn't there alone, he had a partner. Someone who had the GPS position of his convoy that was carrying his brother Anton Hesse. That guy was probably a beta, as an omega wouldn't have made it in Hesse's world. He went searching in the garage, and found a toolbox marked 'Champ'. He opened it, remembering his father calling him champ on the phone just before he died and knowing his father wanted him to find this box. There was a pile of old stuff in there, a tape recorder was one of the things he pulled out. The realization struck Steve that he was truly alone, he had no pack. His sister was still on the mainland. His wolf whined for the loss of his alpha, while the human part of him wanted to whine for the loss of his father. Now he had no real pack. He could and had substituted it with his Navy SEAL team. That had been his temporary pack, whether they were all wolves or just human; for the last 18 years of his life, they had been all he had. As he was lost in thought he failed to notice the other presence enter the room. 

"You! Hands up! Don't move! Who are you?", a voice said from behind him. Steve whipped around and pulled out his gun and noticed the shorter blond man also training a gun on him. 

"Who are you?" Steve asked back. Steve took a breath, and smelled him. Human. Well. That was gonna make this a little more interesting. The shorter man was likely a cop. He had that air about him. At any rate, Steve doubted he was a criminal. Also. They were in Hawaii, why was this man wearing a tie?

"I am Detective Danny Williams," Danny answered at the same time that Steve answered with, "Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett! This is my father's house!"

Then they both shouted at the same time, "Put your weapon down right now!"

"Show me your I.D.!" Danny demanded. 

"You show me your I.D.! Right now!" Steve demanded back.

"I'm not putting my gun down," Danny retorted. 

Steve took a second for consideration. He couldn't argue with the shorter mans feelings. "Well, neither am I. Use your free hand, take out your I.D.," Steve replied. 

"Please, after you," Danny said. 

"At the same time?" asked Steve. 

"At the same time?" Danny repeated. 

"Yeah, at the same time," Steve answered. 

"What, like, on the count of three?" Danny sassed. 

"Sure. Three's good," Steve replied. 

"Alright. One... two... three," Steve counted as they slowly reached into their pockets and they pulled out their ID's at the same time and showed it to the other while still training their guns on the other man in the room.

"Listen, uh, I'm really sorry about your father, but you can't be here right now. This is an active crime scene," Danny explained. 

"Doesn't seem that active," Steve retorted. 

"Look, I can't share any information with you," the blond cop stated after a second of hesitation. He wanted to tell Steve everything he knew and he didn't know why. 

"Hesse wasn't here alone when my father was murdered. Someone was sitting at the desk in the study-- there was a space clear for a 13-inch laptop and my father hated computers," Steve offered. 

"I'm gonna ask you again-- you got to leave," Danny said, feeling exasperated already by this tall attractive man. Attractive man? What the hell was happening. 

"You got it," Steve replied, picking up the toolbox and making to walk off. 

Danny felt like he could punch this guy in front of him. "And you can leave the box-- that is evidence. You know that."

"I came with this," Steve said plaintively. 

"No, you didn't come with it. I see the dust void it left right here on the counter-- what's in the box?" asked Danny. 

"How long you been with the Honolulu PD?" Steve countered. 

"None of your business. What are you, Barbara Walters?" Danny replied sarcastically. 

"No, it is my business if you're investigating my father's death," Steve said. 

"I am, and I'd like to get back to that, so the sooner you leave, the sooner I can," Danny said. 

"Anything you say," Steve replied as he once again picks up the toolbox and makes for the door again around Danny, getting a good whiff of him as he walked by him. His wolf seemed intrigued by this man, and Steve wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Steve didn't know why this man was getting to him or his wolf, but his wolf hadn't felt this settled or this riled up in years. He needed to do some research, after he caught Victor Hesse though. 

"Leave the box or get arrested, all right?" Danny said, voice getting slightly louder. 

"You gonna call for backup?" Steve replied. 

"An ambulance," Danny retorted. Steve put the toolbox down on the hood of the old car his dad had been working on. 

"Thank you," Danny said.

"Don't thank me yet," Steve replied as he took out his phone and went to dial the Governor's number. 

"What are you doing?'" Danny asked, warily. 

Steve put his phone up to his ear and held up his finger for Danny as a sign to stop talking. 

"Uh, yeah, Governor Jameson, please? Tell her it's Steve McGarrett."

"Oh, please," comes from Danny. 

Steve puts the Governor on speaker phone, "Commander, Governor Jameson here. What can I do for you?" 

Steve takes her off speaker phone once he made his point and answers, "I'll take the job. Well, let's just say I found something that changed my mind. No, no, no, immediately. I'll transfer to the reserves, and I'll run your task force. Wha... What, right now? Okay. 'I, Steven J. McGarrett, do solemnly declare upon my honor and conscience that I will act at all times to the best of my ability and knowledge in a manner befitting an officer of the law.' Thank you, Governor," Steve hung up the phone and put it in his pocket and then picked up the toolbox again and turned to Danny and then leaves after saying, "Now it's my crime scene." 

~~~~~~

Steve left his dads garage feeling strange. His wolf itched underneath his skin. Something about the blond detective made both the human and wolf in him want to roam. Steve thought he might have to go for a run that night, so that his wolf could let out some energy. For now, he had some work to do to on his fathers investigation. 

Steve went to the Honolulu Police Department to try and piece together what Detective Williams knew about his fathers murder. When he got there, he went straight to the captain's office and knocked on the door.

The captain, a stern man who looked to be in his 60's, looked up and noticed Steve standing in his doorway. "How may I help you?"

"Sir, I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve Mcgarrett. I'm running the investigation into my fathers murder. I was wondering what kind of information Detective Danny Williams had already discovered," Steve answered.

"Oh, yes that's right, you're the head of the Governor's new task force. I was told about that when Detective Williams informed me you'd be taking over the investigation." The captain paused and turned to grab the file that Danny had gotten together and handed it to Steve who in turn opened it and started to look through the pictures and documents already collected. 

"Captain, I was just wondering what kind of detective Danny Williams was?"

"He's still fresh to HPD, only 6 months in. Moved here from New Jersey. He's got good instincts though, a good man to have around. He was the best person to put on your fathers case, which a lot of the detectives here argued with because they had been here longer and he was a mainlander but he has the freshest eyes," the captain answered truthfully, if not a little warily because he had a feeling he knew where this was going. "You're thinking of poaching him from us, aren't you?"

"I was just wondering what kind of detective had been put on my fathers case," Steve replied, vaguely, still looking through the file about his dad. 

"You forget, Commander, that I have been a police officer for longer than you've been alive. I didn't get this job because of my stunning good looks," the captain said. He gave Steve a look that told him not to play dumb with him.

"Thanks Captain for the information on my dads case, I'm sure we'll see each other again," Steve said, turning away from the door and walking out of the precinct. He had a Detective to talk to.

~~~~~~

When Danny opened his door at the sound of knocking, the last person he expected to see on the other side of the door was Commander Steve McGarrett. Not that it wouldn't be pleasant any other time except for the fact that this man had just swooped right out from underneath him and taken his investigation from him, which to Danny was humiliating so he wasn't really excited to see Steve standing outside his apartment. 

"I swung by your precinct, spoke to your captain. I noticed you requested a wire be put on someone named Fred Doran. Tell me about it," Steve said as he walked into Danny's small apartment, away from the Hawaii rain. 

Danny sighed and then replied sarcastically, "Come in", and then closed the door behind them when he realized Steve wasn't going to give him any sort of reply. Steve took the time to look around the apartment, and he felt claustrophobic. This apartment, if it could even be called that, was tiny. The detective lived here? Really? How does he sleep at night? He noticed a pull-out couch in the middle of the living room. Not even a bedroom in this box. Not that Steve was thinking about bedrooms. In Danny's apartment. With Danny in them. Sleeping, or definitely not sleeping. Steve shook himself internally, he shouldn't be thinking these things. He focused on a picture. 

"This your kid?" Steve asked, staring at a picture of a little girl with brown hair that couldn't be older than 10 that Danny kept close to his bed/couch. 

"Yeah, that's stunning detective work," Danny replied, tiredly. 

"You don't actually let her... stay here with you, do you?" Steve asked, trying to push the man's buttons. It didn't seem like it would take much to get him to go off, and Steve didn't know why, but he was already starting to like the scent of annoyed Danny. It was making his blood thrum. 

"What are you, uh, Nanny 911?" 

"So, what do you know about this guy... Doran?" Steve changed the subject, seeing he wasn't gonna get far by making the detective actually angry, he needed his help, not to be shut out.

"Oh, but surely, you don't need my help, right?" Danny answered. 

"Enlighten me," Steve replied.

"He's a suspected arms dealer. Two years Maui Correctional for weapons possession. He's currently a person of interest in an unrelated homicide. The weapon was never found," Danny finally explained. 

"So, what's he got to do with my father's case?" Steve wanted to know. 

"When I ran a ballistics comparison to the bullet that killed your dad, I got a hit to the Doran investigation," Danny explained further. Steve took a second to process the information. If a bullet matched to Doran's case than that must mean Hesse went to Doran to get a gun once he got on the island. "See, I think the first thing that Hesse did when he got on the island was hook up with Doran and get a gun," Danny continued. 

"And maybe Doran still knows where he is, so let's go talk to him," Steve basically ordered. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Excuse me. Are you suffering from dementia? This is no longer my case," Danny replied. 

"The captain said you transferred in from New Jersey six months ago, so your eye's still fresh," Steve explained further, feeling like he was talking to a child and he wasn't even the adult in the room with a child out there in the world. 

"You know, I appreciate it, but my psych eval's not for six weeks."

"Fold-out bed, no ring on your finger. You obviously moved here to be close to your daughter. Which means in between visits, all you got is your job and you take pride in it. That's what I'm looking for," Steve started, wondering where he was even going with this. He wasn't spontaneous and the Governor told him he needed a partner which he told her he needed to think about closely, but this short blond firecracker made his wolf whine and pace and he needed to know why, so in order to do that, he wanted the man close to him. Steve figured he couldn't get any closer to this guy than being his partner. 

"Yeah, but you know what? It's guys like you, they think they know how to do everything better, and that only makes my job harder," Danny replied, exasperated. This tall man was trouble, with a capital T and Danny knew it. As much as he found Steve attractive he didn't want to be around this guy for long periods of time. For his sanity and his life in general. He'd like to be around to watch Grace grow up, even if it was only 48 hours every second weekend. And he had a feeling by hanging with Steve, that time could be cut super short. 

"You got no choice, Detective. Governor gave me jurisdiction-- I'm making you my partner. We're gonna get along great," Steve retorted, smirking at Danny and turning to walk out of the apartment. He wondered again just what the hell kind of snap decisions he was making, not for the first time that day. This detective was going to make his life very intersting. Danny ran his fingers through his hair, grabbed his keys and his wallet, badge, and gun and then followed after Steve. 

~~~~~~

They pulled up to Doran's address in Danny's car. Steve made to get out of the vehicle right away, barely giving Danny time to shut off the engine.

"Hey, hey, hey! This guy Doran's a shooter, all right? We shouldn't be doing this without backup!" Danny exclaimed.

"You are the backup," Steve stated. He then got out of the car to go to Doran's door.

"I'm the backup. I hate him. I hate him so much," Danny said to himself as he exited the car. 

As they approach the door they could hear yelling inside between a man and woman. The woman came out and seen them. As she went to scream, Danny grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth to muffle it. The man inside seen the struggle and picked up his gun, aiming at the door and firing, hitting Danny in the arm and sending him flying backwards through a window. The guy ran and jumped out the opposite window to the house as Steve looked to check on Danny and Danny told him to go. Steve chased him through the streets. This man was an beta, Steve could smell that. He finally cornered him in the street where the guy grabbed a woman and held his gun to her. Steve trained his gun on him. 

"Put your gun down!" Steve yelled. 

"We don't have to do this, man," Doran said. 

"I said put the gun down! You sold a weapon to a man named Victor Hesse. I'm not after you. I want him," Steve tried to reason with Doran. 

"I'm not talking to you!"

"Where is he?" asked Steve.

"I said I'm not talking to you! Now put the gun down, or I'll kill her! You don't think I'll do it? I'll do it! I'll kill her right now!" Steve hears a shot and winces slightly as he watches his suspect crumple to the ground and he spots Danny standing a few yards away holding his gun. Great. His only lead has just been shot in the head. 

As they search Doran's house Steve finds a young girl, Chinese descent, who doesn't speak english very well. Steve asks for her name, his mind whirling and trying to sort out the new information that he has now sitting in his head. This must be how Victor Hesse got on the island. Steve started brainstorming outside while waiting for Danny to be done with the paramedics. When he seen Danny walking towards him he said, "Okay, so she was smuggled in four days ago in a cargo ship from China, with her parents, a couple hundred refugees. She gets here, she's traded to Doran...."

Danny interrupted Steve in the middle of his train of thought and said, "Okay, excuse me, I'm sorry, this is typically where you would, uh, say "thank you" for saving your life."

Steve stared Danny straight in the face and replied, "You just shot my only lead."

"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?" Danny did not look happy. However, Steve took no notice as he was focused on one thing and one thing only. Hesse. 

"These are the same guys that are moving people out of Asia. They could've smuggled Hesse into Hawaii," Steve said.

"You just took a stupid risk, okay? Understand that. I am not getting myself killed for your vendetta. I have a daughter, okay?" Danny replied. 

"Yeah? That girl in there is someone's daughter, too."

"You don't get it. You just don't get it. I mean, for somebody who just lost his father, you're pretty dense," Danny said, even more exasperated with Steve than he was when he met the guy in his fathers garage.

"What'd you just say? What did you just say to me! What if she was yours, huh? Is there anything that you wouldn't do to hunt down the son of a bitch that did that to her and killed them?" Steve shouted.

"Do not question my resolve..." Danny replied, shaking his finger at Steve's face.

Steve took one look at the finger. smirked and said very calmly, "One warning-- take your finger out of my face."

So naturally Danny took it one step further and poked Steve in the chest with the same finger and exclaimed, "Listen to me, you son of a bitch!"

Steve took hold of the finger and twisted so that Danny's arm was bent backwards against his back and he was bent forward in front of Steve with Steve leaning over him. "Aah! What did I tell you? I warned you."

Danny grunted and replied, "What are you, a ninja? Let go."

"In front of all these nice people-- it's fine. Go back to work. It's okay," Steve said, pausing while Danny groaned, which definitely did not go straight to Steve's groin and then continued in a low voice by the Detective's ear, "Now, you don't have to like me, but right now, there's no one else to do this job."

"Okay. Let me go," Danny relented.

Steve let got of Danny's arm, getting back to focusing on his train of thought about how Hesse got on the island, because that was gonna be the key to how he escapes. "All right, look, we need to find these human trafficker..." Steve started saying as Danny cut him off by punching Steve in the face.

"You're right, I don't like you," Danny grumbles as he turned and walked away, shaking his fist.


	2. Hesse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I don't own anything, just borrowing the characters. I'm trying to get away from the whole story from the show, but there is still gonna be little parts, the pieces that I think makes sense for the McDanno relationship and some stuff is gonna be paraphrased. I'd ideally like to be able to update this weekly but I won't make promises just in case. I don't have a beta so all the editing is on me. 
> 
> Thank you for the reviews! Continue to read and review!

Chapter 2

"How's the arm?" Steve asked. He couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. Danny was now part of his team and he was the leader, which meant he should be the one making sure his team was alright. He also wanted to break the silence in the car. Ever since they left Doran's, it was uncomfortable, since Danny seemed like the type to be constantly moving or talking a lot, and he was doing neither of which right now. It made Steve feel uncomfortable, he knew Danny was mad at him, and he had a feeling that everytime the Detective was truly upset quietness would be his indicator. 

"Let's just not talk," Danny replied without even looking at Steve. 

"You mean right now or ever again?" 

"Just both, okay?" Danny said, exasperated. 

"You know, I think... I think I might know why your wife left you," Steve said, feeling like he was sticking his foot in his mouth but not being able to stop it. 

Danny tensed up. "Really?"

"Yeah, you're very sensitive," Steve answered, factually. 

Danny laughed, not in any sort of humorous way. More like the laugh of someone getting ready to kill someone. "I'm sensitive, huh?"

"Yeah." Steve didn't know why he kept going, he should shut up, but he wanted to see if he could break Danny's wall of hatred towards him. His wolf was begging him to find some way to make the detective agreeable towards him, it whined in his head. 

"You think I'm sensitive?" Danny was still tense. 

"Well, a little bit, you know," Steve knew he was getting close crossing a line, a very serious line. But maybe if Danny got a chance to let out his anger, he'd start being okay again and Steve seriously wanted him to be okay. 

Danny felt his face get redder as he started shouting, "When did you come to the conclusion that I was sensitive, huh? Was it when a bullet was tearing through my flesh, is that when I seemed sensitive to you? Huh?" Danny paused to take a breath before continuing in a slightly less shouting manner but still his voice made Steve wary, "I am really happy that you are not afraid of anything. Okay? I'm glad that you have that GI Joe thousand-yard stare from chasing shoe-bombers around the world, okay? But in civilized society, we have rules, all right? It is the unspoken glue that separates us from the jackals and hyenas, all right?"

"Jackals and hyenas.." Steve was confused. But also wary, he didn't know if Danny knew about wolves or not. It wasn't common knowledge, only to the humans that were in packs already by birth or some sort of circumstance. 

"Animal Planet, whatever. Okay? The point is, rule number one: if you get somebody shot, you apologize!" Danny shouted, as if he hadn't even heard Steve say anything. 

Now Steve got it. "I'm sorry."

Danny continued like he didn't hear him. "You don't wait for a special occasion..."

"I'm sorry."

"Okay? Like birthdays..."

"I'm sorry."

"...frickin' President's Day..."

Now Steve was frustrated and he just wanted Danny to acknowledge his apology. "Hey, man, I'm sorry, okay? I said I'm sorry, sincerely sorry. That's what I was trying to tell you last year...when this conversation first started."

Danny paused. He took a deep breath before replying, "Your, uh... apology is noted. Acceptance is pending."

Steve deflated into his seat before saying, "You let me know, now."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll let you know," Danny replied. 

~~~~~~

Once Danny had dropped Steve off at his hotel that night, Steve took out the toolbox and started going through everything in there. Postcards, key, photos, tape recorder, and so much more. All of it, pieces of a puzzle and one that Steve needed to put together. His dad clearly wanted him to find this, why, Steve couldn't say. From the pictures, Steve could guess it had to do with a case. So he started looking through the pictures before he realized they weren't just pictures from a random crime scene; they were pictures of his mothers car bombing. What had his dad been working on?

Hours later he found himself frustrated by lack of any further knowledge and finally put the toolbox back to rights and hid it in the closet. Then he decided he would go for a run. It was much too long since he had been for a run in his natural habitat. He took a cab to a more secluded part of the island, where he knew some trails were that he used as a kid.

When he got out, he lifted his head and scented the air. He sighed, he had really missed home. He hadn't been back since his dad sent him away when he was 16. He didn't know he needed it until he stepped back on the island but breathing in the air he had as a kid made him feel a bit more relaxed. 

He walked the trail a bit until he was away from prying eyes and then went off the path a little, recognizing the area. It hadn't changed that much in 18 years, but there was some new growth from this area not being used like it used to be. He walked through the shrubs and trees until he found his tree. When he was 16, before he was sent away but after his mom had died, he came here and marked this tree with a knife. Not something that would easily be recognized but something he knew. It looked similar to a bullet, but natural enough the bark on the tree itself could have formed it. There he took off his clothes and put them in his bag which he set in a hole at the bottom of the tree. He knew it wouldn't be disturbed there, it never had been before.

From there he turned back towards the deeper part of the forest and breathed deeply, letting the wolf in his body take control like it had been itching to all day. He felt the change come, the fur that sprouted and his bones popping as they changed from human form to wolf form. When he was younger and didn't understand what was happening to him, it had hurt a lot more because he'd fought it. Now he let it wash over him with all the control of someone who had been doing this for years. Bringing him down to all fours where his hands and feet became paws and long, strong legs covered in black fur. His face changed, nose becoming a snout and jaws filled with sharp teeth. He felt his ears change and he could hear even clearer now that he was in canine form. His hearing was slightly sharpened as a human but it wasn't as clear as it was when he changed into his canine counterpart. 

He shook himself once the change had happened, letting his coat feel the breeze. He let out a yip, eager for the run ahead of him. His tail wagged slightly and his tongue lolled to the side, as he stared through the bushes and trees and breathed in the scents of the forest. He heard a noise off to his right and his ears pricked up, his body tensing as he waited to identify the sound. Then he darted off in the opposite direction, racing through the forest. He stopped every once in awhile to sniff the ground around him, recognizing the scent of boar or other animals. He also stopped to mark his territory in the standard way a canine does, to let the animals know he was back. Then he headed for the deeper forest, smelling along a path, not hearing anything but animals and the few birds that were singing before bedtime. It was another two hours of just running before he felt the tiredness that came from not letting his wolf out overcome him. It had been awhile since he had let him run. Most wolves ran a few times a week, if they were lucky some ran everyday, he hasn't had a chance to run free in almost a year. The hazards of being a wolf with a military career. Now that some of the restlessness had worn out, he hoped he'd be able to sleep a little better that night. 

~~~~~~

The next day dawned bright and hot, much like everyday in Hawaii was. Steve waited for Danny to pick him up; they were gonna go see a man named Chin Ho Kelly, whom Steve had met the day before and happened to be a former cop. Former for reasons which Steve was curious about, but wouldn't prod the man about since he seemed bitter about that still. However, he was curious. Chin had been trained by his father, and was his partner for years. Steve had asked the governor who he could take on his team, who she would approve of after he had recruited Danny. She had told him that she would trust his judgement on his own team. He wanted to recruit Chin because it wasn't fair that a cop like him had been kicked off the force. 

Steve and Danny talked to Chin and managed to recruit him, though Chin still looked like he had his doubts about it. Steve though, is very sure that Chin did not take that money. His dad wouldn't have trusted Chin like he did if he was dirty, that was just a fact. 

The phone rings in the silence of the car, and Danny picks it up, expecting to hear his ex-wife's voice on the other side but instead it's his ray of sunshine.

"Hello Dea-Hey Gracie! No, no, I thought you were your Mom. How was school? Yeah? Well, I'm so happy that they loved your bunny. I'm really proud. Okay, talk to you soon. Remember, Danno loves you." He then disconnected the call and put his phone down, looking to see Steve staring at him like something that had come out of a surprise bag.

"What?"

"Nothing," Steve answered.

"It's not nothing. What is it?"

"It's just...Danno?" Steve said.

"Don't," Danny warned.

"No I think it's cute. Danno," Steve replied, looking out the car window.

"No. No, that is a me and Grace thing. That is not a you and me thing. You don't get to use that," Danny said.

It was quiet in the car for a few more seconds. "Why does she call you Danno?" Steve asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Danny contemplated for a few seconds. Does he tell this tank of a man one of his most closely kept secrets? Something only a few select know? He figured Steve would probably be a dog with a bone and wouldn't let this go so he sighed and decided to tell him. 

"When Grace was about three, she tried to say my name and couldn't. All she could come up with was Danno. So it stuck," Danny explained.

Steve looked like he was waiting for more, like waiting for some huge mystery to be solved. "That's it?"

"That's it. Now you know. And NO, you are not allowed to call me that," Danny said.

"Okay. Danno," Steve replied, looking off out the window as Danny continued to drive. 

The next person they go see is Chin's cousin named Kono. A pretty woman, just about to graduate from the police academy. Steve can see that Danny is immediately taken with her and it makes something inside him burn. He identifies that feeling as jealousy though he can't figure out why, Kono is attractive and young and Danny himself is attractive and young, and what business is it of his if they got together? One look from Chin though, and Steve is thinking Danny might have to rethink that whole plan. Chin isn't gonna let either of them near her with a ten foot pole, not that Steve wants her. Though he is considering if maybe she might be his next recruit. The fact that Danny seems to like her is giving him second thoughts though, and he frowns as he again wonders why it matters. 

Kono is eager to earn some 'extra credit' by being an undercover before she even graduates the academy. That alone settles Steve's choice that he wants her on the team, Danny's attraction be damned. 

~~~~~~

When things go sideways with the meeting with Sang Min, Steve had been somewhat prepared. He was a SEAL, he always had a back up plan. What he wasn't expecting was there to a mole in HPD. And for Danny to look so shaken up about that. He filed that in his brain under 'things to look at later'. They did have enough evidence now to convict Sang Min of human trafficking, and he had helped Victor Hesse on the island, that much he knew. 

Danny and Steve went to the Chinese ship that was carrying Hesse and the immigrants and it was just about ready to leave. So Steve decided the best thing to do would be to drive the car right up onto the deck. Steve took off while Danny took care of the guys on the ground and covered him. He chased and eventually fought head to head with Hesse. Both being wolves meant baser instincts for fighting and Steve was lucky Danny wasn't entirely paying attention to the fight or he might have noticed that his new partner wasn't exactly what one might call normal. And Steve didn't want Danny to know about that. At least not just yet. That was need to know basis and Danny was not need to know. He shot Hesse and he fell into the water behind him. Immediately Steve got up to go and see if he could see the body. He couldn't, just bubbles and waves from where Hesse hit the water. He could hear Danny behind him talking to a suspect that he sat on and then handcuffed. He smiled hearing Danny ask the guy where he thought he was going to go, the blond man was such a spitfire. At last he turned to Danny when he asked him what he wanted him to do with the guy on the ground and told him to "Book em, Danno."

~~~~~~

When he got released from the hospital, Steve knew there was one thing he needed to do. He stopped by the Kahala Hotel and booked three nights there that weekend for Danny and Grace. The man was a good father and he wanted to show Danny that he did care about him and he was sorry about his arm. This was all about showing him he was sorry, this had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see Danny's face light up in a smile because Steve had made him happy. Nope. Not that at all. 

When Steve got to the new office and knocked on Danny's office door, he didn't expect the blond man to look up at him so tiredlike. When he said that he had gotten the three nights for Danny, he could see Danny revving up to give another lecture about his apartment but when he shut it down after Steve telling him to just take it and thanked him, Steve found himself both pleased and disappointed. He shook his head and then left Danny's office to go to his own to start sorting it out but found that his arm was more of a hindrance than useful so after an hour he decided to just go home. 

~~~~~~

That night although Steve wanted to go for a run so he could get rid of the excess adrenaline and energy he had from the fight with Hesse, he decided to leave it until his arm healed, which should be in the next few days with his healing ability. He needed to do something though so he decided to look through the evidence again in the tool box and then went for a drive. The coast guard still hadn't found his body, which made Steve feel uneasy and would continue to make him feel that way until they found him. Because until then Steve couldn't be sure he was actually dead. He knew he shot him but he wanted the living, or in this case not living, proof that he had killed Hesse. 

Lost in his thoughts he kept driving and found himself sitting outside Danny's apartment. He didn't know why, but something drew him to this man. It certainly wasn't Danny's seeming hatred of him. He found that also made him uncomfortable, he didn't want Danny to hate him. They were partners, albeit it had not gone down the way Steve would have hoped but they are partners now. He didn't think he would be quite welcome in Danny's home yet, so he turned on his truck and headed home.


	3. Professionals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own anything, just borrowing some things and people. 
> 
> Thank you for the reviews!

Chapter 3

The team spent the next few days getting their headquarters set up. Danny spent the weekend with Grace at the Kahala Hotel and she loved every minute of it. He spent the nights in bed just wondering what kind of crazy he had gotten himself into. Steve seemed like a strict by the rules guy, probably not police rules if his dads case was anything to go by but from what he'd read about the Commander, he was a Navy SEAL. That had to mean something to the man. 

Danny already felt like he'd lost five years off his life and he'd only been partnered with Steve for a week and they hadn't even taken on any other cases in that time. Steve might end up being the death of him. And then where would Grace be? Fatherless and stuck with Step-Stan, that's where. 

Danny had to admit though that Steve intrigued him. The man was all long body and muscles...and tattoos. Danny never had a thing for tattoos but he thinks he could get along really well with Steve's. If he wasn't crazy. Or his partner. But then he'd never really had a thing for guys either, except for that one time in college when he'd gone to a frat party and the head of the frat had brought him to his room for 'drinks'. Danny still shivered at that thought. 

On Sunday he dropped Grace off with her mother and then he went back to his apartment. Or shoebox really but it was all he could find on short notice. When he'd found out Rachel was taking Grace and moving them to Hawaii he tried to fight it and in his denial left finding an apartment to the last few weeks before they moved. He could hear the neighbours, they weren't exactly the 'bake you a pie to welcome you to the neighbourhood' type. They fought constantly and he always felt like he'd wake up one day to sirens and an ambulance because one had killed the other. He hated bringing Grace there and so far the neighbours seemed to be mild on the weekends, one or the other being gone for the majority of the days. Which was good because he didn't want Grace around that anyway. But Hawaii living was expensive and he was still trying to pay off some of the debts he had back home before he moved.

The fact that Steve had poked at it stung a bit and Danny didn't know why. This man whom he had never met had humiliated him not only at his former crime scene but now at his place of residence. He knew he should be doing better for Grace and he would be, in a few months. Steve got under his skin in the worst way, the man had these hawk-like eyes that just honed in on you and Danny felt like Steve could see every insecurity and every weakness a person had. 

He woke up Monday morning and showered, dressed, and fixed his hair before leaving and going to the Iolani Palace. He walked into the office to see Steve already in and Chin and Kono standing at the computer table looking through the information on Hesse.

'Still no body?' Danny asked.

'Nope. Coast guard has gone up and down that area of the dock and surrounding waters. No sign of Hesse at all, which of course, is making Steve a bit unsettled,' Kono answered. 

'Yeah, of course,' Danny mumbled more to himself than anyone else as he stared at the screen.

'So where are we on contacts for him? Besides Sang Min,' Danny asked.

'Anyone who came into any sort of contact with him is going to be dead. Hesse isn't someone who keeps people alive. He uses them and then dumps them once he's done,' Steve replied, coming out of his office. 

Danny looked up from the table at Steve and felt his breathing quicken. God but he was an attractive man. What the fuck, Danny thought. 

~~~~~~

The next day bloomed bright and hot, as it does everyday in Hawaii if it isn't raining. Danny decided to go to Steve's early in the morning, and by early he meant 8a.m., so hopefully Steve would be awake. Well, who is he kidding, the guy was in the Navy, he's probably up at 5:00a.m. everyday. He picks up some malasadas from a stand on the same street that Steve lives in. 

He walked inside and closed the door behind him. He came around the corner to see Steve sitting at the dining room table. He figured with his training Steve probably knew that he was there so he didn't bother to announce his presence. Without looking up, Steve said, "What is it with you and walking into other people's houses?" 

"Well, I knocked," Danny answered, "Besides, babe, if anyone walks into other peoples houses uninvited, that would be you."

Steve finally looked up and said, "I didn't hear you knock." 

"Well, I did, I knocked, and then I saw you through the window and I thought you nodded," Danny stated matter of factly, setting his brown paper bag on the table. 

"Didn't nod," Steve replied. 

"Would you like me to leave?" Danny asked. 

"Depends. What's in the bag?" Steve replied curiously. He already knew, malasadas. Damn but he hadn't had those since he was a kid. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he only had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. 

"Oh, those, uh, doughnut-looking things they sell basically on every block," Danny answered, opening the bag. 

"Malasadas?"

"Yeah, whatever they are. They're fried and they taste good. You want one?" Danny offered. 

"No. Not without bypass surgery. And you can stay. Just don't eat near my stuff," Steve replied. 

"Can I have a napkin?" Danny asked as he pulled out one of the doughnuts and took a bite, god but they were good.

"Yeah," Steve said. Then his eyes drifted down to Danny's tie as he noticed the detective making a mess out of himself and he smirked. 

"What was that look? What, they teach you how not to spill in the Army?" 

"It's the Navy, okay? The Navy. It's not the spill. It's the tie. No one in Hawaii wears a tie," Steve said, pulling out more pieces of evidence from the tool box. Except for you, he thought, and you look great wearing a tie, if I could just have you in just a t-wait. Hold that thought. Where the hell did that come from? 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I like to look like a professional," Danny sassed back, flinging his arm out and down himself at his attire. 

Steve looked him up and down, slowly. "Professional what?" 

"Okay, this is my favorite tie. Grace gave me this tie for Father's Day. Oh, and also, just so you know, back in Jersey and every other normal city in this country, this is what a detective looks like," Danny replied, in between bites of malasada. 

"Really?" Steve asked, fully prepared for another Danny-rant. He felt like he played pinball everytime he talked to the detective. He just put a quarter in, pulled a lever, and watched everything light up and spin around. 

"Yeah, really," Danny answered, pointedly. He wiped some of the doughnut dust off of his shirt with his napkin. 

"Yeah, shirt, tie, doughnut crumbs. By the way, you missed a spot. Look, you're never gonna fit in here looking like you're from the mainland," Steve said, sighing. 

"Who says I want to fit in? I don't want to fit in, I want to look like I'm from the mainland. Okay? I got 87 homicide cases under my belt looking like this," Danny stated, proudly. 

"Not in 110-degree weather, you don't," Steve shrugged before contuing, "I'm just saying." 

"I'm not taking off the tie. So leave it alone." 

"Okay."

"Okay? You want to discuss my shoes?" Danny sassed. 

"Well, now that you mention it, patent leather loafers?" Steve teased. He did enjoy riling him up, though. His wolf felt like he was playing a game with Danny, tugging on his pants and then jumping away with his tail wagging and tongue lolling about. His wolf was a strange creature. 

"Will you, uh, do me a favor, please? Just let it go," Danny said and then sighed before asking, "That your dad's stuff?" 

"Yeah."

"You get anything from it?" Danny asked curiously. 

"More questions than answers," Steve replied, frustrated. Then his phone rang and they were called out to a kidnapping case involving one Roland Lowry. Given the fact that he was ex-NSA who had a high level of security clearance, Steve realized this could be a big issue if their victim ended up compromised. God knew what kind of information this man had. 

~~~~~~

Steve was a mad man and also great with kids. Danny could attest to that as they followed one of their shooters up an elevator in a hotel with a poor family who got stuck in the middle of everything. Danny managed to talk to the family and he used his calming voice to let them know they'd be okay and when they got off in a hurry at the next stop Danny told Steve that he really had a way with kids. Steve looked confused, like a puppy dog, and had no idea what he was talking about, his mind tunnel visioned to nothing except the guy they were chasing. Figured. Danny wasn't going to be letting this man anywhere near his daughter anytime soon. 

They got out onto the roof and started searching around with their guns drawn. Steve followed the scent of blood, he found the suspect around another entrance way onto the roof. Steve yelled, "Found him!" 

"Is he dead?" Danny asked. 

"Not yet," Steve growled in answer, looking down at the human man propped up against a building. He was pale, had lost a lot of blood from a bullet wound in his left shoulder. Steve scented him quickly. He'd live, as long as they got him to a hospital, not that Steve wanted to do that. 

"Hey," Steve said. He tapped the guy with his foot. "Have a nice nap, Princess? Who are you?" The suspect groaned in answer. Danny and Chin came up behind him. 

"Huh? The man asked you a question," Danny said, as he put his gun away and put his hands on his hips. 

"Where's Roland Lowry? What do you want with him?" Steve asked, getting close to the guys face. 

Danny got down to the guys face level where he was laying on the ground propped up by the building and started talking. "Hey, you know, I've been shot, too. Yeah, you really ought to get that looked at. What's it been, an hour or two since you got hit? What's gonna happen is bacterial infection is gonna set in, and trust me, you do not want that. It goes straight to your bloodstream. Sepsis, organ failure. Next thing you know, they're yanking out your kidneys. And from what I hear, dialysis is, um, it's not fun. Let me ask you a question. Your buddies really worth all that trouble? Huh? I mean, you guys couldn't have been that tight, right? They left you behind."

Steve got fed up with this guy not saying anything, and also confusedly turned on by watching Danny's ass in those pants of his as he squatted down in front of their suspect. He was so confused by all of this, why on earth was he feeling this way? He shook his head and decided he would think about it later. And by later, he probably meant never. Maybe he just needed to get laid. The guy was tough, probably some kind of thug from another country and they didn't have time for that nonsense. "Danno, move. Chin, hold him down." 

The suspect looked at Steve warily as Chin held the guy down and Danny stood up straight. When Steve picked up the guys had and started bring it towards the wound in his shoulder, the suspect panicked and asked, "What are you doing?" Steve didn't answer as he pressed the finger into the bullet wound, effectively causing pain to the suspect and getting a way to get his fingerprint. 

Danny got angry and yelled, "What the hell is the matter with you?" 

Steve didn't bother replying to him, just asked for a piece of paper to place the print and asked Chin to run it and then dragged the guy up off the ground and over to the edge of the rooftop. 

Danny was eyeing him warily until he seen where Steve was headed and then started yelling, "Hey, hey, Steve, what do you think you're doing? Hey!"

When Steve hung the shooter off the roof Danny thought he might have a heart attack. What was it with this guy and doing things that are definitely not by the book? This was so far past the line Danny didn't even know where to start. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Danny yelled. "That is not how you interrogate a suspect! You can't hang him off a roof! The suspect could have information! Are you listening? We need him alive to talk, ergo, if the suspect dies, we have no information!"

"Ergo?" Steve said, confused.

"Get him up!" Danny yelled.

Steve started yelling again at the suspect again, telling the guy that nobody would look at it as a crime and that he'd be doing the world a favour, all while still holding him over the edge of the building. Danny kept yelling to pull the guy up but Steve was just not complying. 

"Ladies! You can stop, we got a hit on his fingerprint from and Interpol database. His name is Sergei Ivanovitch. Serbian national with a rap sheet a mile long. He's part of a gang who pulled mostly bank jobs, jewelry heists. Smash and grab type stuff," Chin read.

"So they're thieves. Thieves take things, not humans," Danny commented. 

"Maybe they graduated to kidnapping," Chin replied, evenly. 

"Or maybe they knew what Roland wanted to show the general, and they want to get their hands on it. Either way, take this guy to the office, throw him in a hole. Then I want you to run a deep background. Find out when Sergei got to the island, where he's been, all known associates, everything," Steve ordered. 

"Got it," Chin answered, hauling Sergei up and into handcuffs, leading him towards the door. Meanwhile, Steve was so angry and turned on he couldn't think straight so he marched towards the other end of the roof...away from the door. 

"Where are you going?" Danny asked.

"We are going to Roland's house, okay? These guys are thieves-- I want to know what they were after," Steve answered.

"That way? You're going?" Danny asked, angry but full of amusement at the same time.

Steve stopped and realized where he was heading before turning around and marching back towards the door but not before telling Danny to shut up. If Danny wasn't so angry at the man for his lack of respect towards rules he would have laughed.


	4. Penny for Your Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again do not own anything, I'm just a creator borrowing some characters. 
> 
> Thanks for the reviews guys, it means a lot!!

Chapter 4

Steve could feel the tension from the drivers seat. Danny was mad, scratch that, he was pissed. Steve could feel the heat from the glares he was throwing his way. He wanted to diffuse the situation but he didn't know how. His wolf whined in his mind, he wasn't happy with him. Steve didn't understand why, but everytime Danny threw a glare his way, his wolf ducked its head and backed itself into a corner of his mind and whined pitifully. 

He knew he was probably either sticking his foot in his mouth or opening a can of worms but he figured it might be best for Danny to just be able to rant and then maybe he'll feel better. "Just let it go." 

"Please don't talk to me right now," Danny said without even looking at Steve. He was glaring out the window at the passing scenery.

"Okay, we're gonna do that whole thing again? Why do we...?" Steve asked. His wolf whined at the glare Danny threw his way. If looks could kill. 

"Will you zip it for a second? I'm gonna speak now. It is my turn. Sergei lvanovich-- he is a suspect. That means we treat him as a source of information and then we book him, okay? Torturing and killing is not part of the job description," Danny ranted, and was about to continue when Steve interrupted, "I wasn't going to kill him." 

"Why are you talking?" Danny asked, eyes wide and very angry. But also very blue, like the sky. Steve stared for a second. 

"I'm just trying to explain..." 

"Why are your lips moving?!" 

Steve shut up immediately and gestured for Danny to continue. 

Danny continued ranting. "I know the governor gave you a free pass, okay? But immunity and means does not mean you get to hang a guy off a roof. All right, I was going to break him. I just needed a little time to get into his head. That is how police work is done. Is that too theoretical for you, huh?" 

"Can I speak?" Steve asked, sarcastically. 

"Please!" 

"Okay. That guy was only going to talk...out of fear of death," Steve answered. 

"Fear of death? What does that mean, fear of death? People will tell you anything under fear of death. That doesn't always make it true!" Danny yelled. Man he was attracive when he yelled, Steve thought. 

"Did you see the tattoo on his hand? The blue star-- did you see the blue star tattoo he had on his hand? That's a New Belgrade Serbian mafia tattoo. These guys are not smash and grab types. They kill kids and slaughter families. That boy's going to lose his father," Steve explained, as calmly and gently as he could. 

"Is everything going to become personal for you? You hang a guy off a roof because you lost your father?" Danny asked. 

"Danny, you know what...?" 

Danny cut him off. "No, no, no. I just want to know. I want to know, because if everything is going to become a personal mission to you, I count my odds at job security, not to mention survival, pretty slim. Okay? We are partners. So if you are going to be the shoot first and ask questions later type of a guy, I would at least like to be consulted so I know when to duck," he finished. 

Steve sighed. "Okay. But just for the record? I wasn't going to kill him." 

"Well, that's good," Danny relented. 

~~~~~~

That night after they got Roland back and Steve had given the intel to the Navy to send up the ranks of command, Steve decided to go for a run in the forest again. As he ran, he started to think. About a lot of things but his thoughts revolved around his partner, his dad, and his sister. Danny might think Steve had no respect for police procedure but despite the fact that they had only been partnered for a little bit, they were already in sync with each other. Danny read his mind faster than any person on his teams before had. That fascinated Steve, how one human could create such a disturbance in his life. Steve was used to order, and neatness, and Danny was everything but. Despite what Danny seemed to think about him, he was already valuing Danny as a partner and a friend. He also felt this pull towards him that he couldn't explain, thoughts that kept coming unbidden into his mind. 

Then he started to think about his dad, and the tool box. What did it all mean? Why did his dad have pictures from his mothers car bombing? Why did he have that tape recorder? What did he mean when he said he had to protect them and this was the only way? Who murdered his mother? And why? He seemed to have more questions than answers. They were all pieces of a puzzle, he just needed to figure out which went where. And finally his sister, he hadn't had much contact with her in the last few years. He emailed her when he could but other than that they didn't talk much. But she would need him now, he was technically her Alpha by default. She said she'd be coming to Hawaii at some point soon, but she wasn't sure when. He knew she was surrounded by others of their kind but it wasn't the same as direct family.

As he got in his truck and started driving, he wasn't thinking about where he was going. He just drove. He loved these places as a kid, the things he and his dad used to do. Now they were filled with sad memories of things he'd never get to experience again with his dad. Hopefully someday he can look at them and see happy times again. Before he realized it, he had pulled onto Danny's street. His apartment light was on. Steve parked a little ways down so he wouldn't be seen. Why did he drive here? When did Danny's place become somewhere he went when he was thinking or upset? Since they'd become partners, Steve found himself outside the apartment at least 3 or 4 times a week. Danny still wasn't that fond of him so he didn't usually go up and knock, usually he'd wait until he seen the light go out and then he'd go home. 

Steve took it as something left over from his SEAL days, making sure his team were safe and secure before he'd get rest himself but he always found these nights were the nights his wolf stayed quiet and peaceful. He didn't get why, but Danny's presence seemed to soothe his wolf, which considering he pissed Steve off didn't make sense as it was the complete opposite spectrum of emotions. There was something different though, something Steve couldn't quite put a finger on. As much as Danny bugged the human side of him, he felt they were becoming ohana, family; him, Danny, Chin, and Kono. 

There were times, however, when his wolf wasn't soothed by Danny and paced restlessly in his mind, wanting to be let out. Fear and protectiveness over the man made it whine and act that way. Steve had to push it out of his head during the meeting with Doran. Now that he's in the quiet darkness of his truck, he sits and wonders why his wolf feels this way. It never felt this way before for anybody or anything, not even his SEAL team and they had been his pack for the last decade or so. 

Steve seen movement in Danny's tiny apartment, Danny must be getting ready to go to bed. He wondered sometimes if Danny knew he was out here, he always tried to find a spot on the side of the road where he could see the apartment but not be seen by Danny unless he was really staring out his window. There were still a good amount of cars on the road that it wasn't weird when he left, he just sounded like a neighbour leaving their home. He watched as Danny moved around, pulling out his bed probably and then going to use the bathroom he was guessing. Finally there was no movement and the light turned out, plunging the apartment into darkness. Steve waited a minute or two, sighed a breath of relief and headed home. 

~~~~~~

The next few weeks were pretty quiet, save for a few robbers who thought they were smart and a carjacking that didn't get very far. When Danny and he weren't driving around after bad guys and getting on each others nerves, Steve spent the majority of his free time either going over the stuff in the tool box again and again or he was out exploring his home again. There were so many places that he wanted to see again and explore, places he hasnt been to in over fifteen years.

His wolf had never been happier or felt so free, he hadn't had many chances in active duty to let his wolf run free. He loved his job and the places he got to see, the foods he got to try and the people he met but it didn't mean that suppressing his wolf was always worth it. There weren't many people who knew about the weres in everyday existence, so it made it difficult. The few times he got to explore villages deep in jungles were the times when he met those who knew of him and spoke of his kind freely. 

He wasn't sure if Danny knew or not, the human hadn't mentioned it but then it wasn't exactly something you just bring up in everyday conversation. He wanted to try and discreetly find out but he didn't think it would be wise until he got to know more about the human detective that he had hijacked and made his partner. 

Danny was an interesting man, clearly one who had values and morals, and he very clearly loved his daughter. Steve couldn't fathom why but he was excited to meet the little girl. He had never been super fond of kids, being a SEAL meant sometimes having to do things you hated for the good of your country. 

He would be meeting her in a few weeks at a football game for his and Chin's old high school. The whole team was going to hang out there for the afternoon and Danny said he would bring Grace because as Danny had said, "That would be an unlikely place for you to hang people off roofs or cause some other kind of disaster, right Steven?" He'd rolled his eyes at his partners loud words and flailing arms. He was excited and nervous though, meeting Danny's daughter was a big deal. 

Catherine was also coming to port in a month or so for a short time. He was excited about that too, though not as much as he used to be. He's not sure if it was just the separation and they needed to get their groove back or what had happened. It wasn't like he was dating anyone. It had been almost a year since he had seen her last, between his and her assignments they hadn't crossed paths in awhile. 

It would be good for him though, he was sure of it. It had been much too long and he was feeling the frustration. Between assignments, his dads death, and starting up the task force he just hasn't had time. However, the thought of rolling around in bed with Cath like old times just didn't seem to appease his wolf. It used to just be pretty mellow about her but now it almost growled at him, making him feel like he was doing something wrong. 

He came back to himself as he heard a knock on the door. 

"Steve? You in la la land over there?" Kono asked, an amused smiled on her face.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "No, what's up?"

"I just thought you might like to know about a group of drug smugglers who thought they were being smart and ended up dead," Kono replied casually.

"They piss off the wrong people?" Steve asked, getting up out of his seat and walking around his desk to join her at the door. They walked from there to the table where Chin and Danny were waiting.

"We don't know. Reports of gunfire from a warehouse near the boating docks. Police got there and found five dead guys and what looked like the remains of a shipment left. Whoever it was that took them out tried to take most of the drugs but weren't prepared enough it seems," Chin said.

"Okay let's get over and process the scene. See what we find," Steve said, already heading towards the door. 

Danny just shook his head but followed immediately behind, trying but knowing he wasn't going to be able to catch up to Steve's long strides. By the time he got to his car, HIS car, Steve was already buckled up in the drivers seat with the car running. As soon as he got in Steve took off, leaving Chin and Kono still at headquarters. They'd be fine, probably take Kono's car but it was the principle of the thing. 

"So, Rambo, what were ya thinking about in your office that had you staring blankly at the ceiling?" Danny asked, amused.

"Why does everyone think that I was daydreaming? I was not daydreaming, I was thinking about my reports," Steve replied defensively.

"Looked like daydreaming to me. Blank look on your face, sighing at appropriate intervals..."

"Leave it alone, Danno," Steve said, tensing. He did not daydream. He was a SEAL for goodness sakes. He most definitely did not sigh while staring off into space.

"Hey, what did I tell you about that, huh? Danno is Grace's name for me. That's a me and Grace thing. Not a me, you, and Grace thing," Danny grumbled.

Steve felt warmth rush through him at the thought of something being his, Danny's, and Grace's and he hadn't even met the little girl yet. He shook his head. What a weird thing to happen. He wished Catherine was coming back earlier, he really needed to get laid. 

"I still think it's cute. Suits you," Steve said, grinning at his partner.

"I'll show you cute, Steven. Just wait," Danny mumbled under his breath. Steve smiled at the road and kept driving.


	5. Meeting Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Once again, don't own anything, thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!
> 
> On a side note, I know it's a slow burn, I literally meant slow burn. I'm trying to include more because this is kinda following the story, at least for part of season one up until the partnership is established and we've met all the important characters. So I am skipping over some parts, and I'm using what I remember from my mind to write most of the carguments and important conversations that make up McDanno. I just started rewatching the series not too long ago so a lot of it is still pretty fresh. I will be zooming past a few episodes, just to speed up the story, but just so you don't get bored of just rereading season one with werewolves, I wanted everyone to know I do have a plan.

Chapter 5

After solving the case, of which turned out that a local gang of boys had decided to start running drugs and happened to double cross their bosses which got them killed, the team sat back in the break room enjoying a movie.

Steve stood in the doorway and looked around the room. Kono was happily munching on popcorn and Chin was sipping at a cup that looked like it contained pineapple juice. Danny had grimaced at that and called them weird. Steve had grinned and they all sat down to enjoy the movie. After coming up with the name of Five-0 in here this became the place they went after cases so that they could unwind. Usually someone would bring a movie and they'd all sit down and enjoy. Steve was glad about this, the sense of team and belonging. His wolf was content, dozing away in the back of his mind.

His team was happy and safe, and he felt content. He settled down beside Danny and watched the movie. 

~~~~~~

The day came that Steve and the team were to meet Grace. They were waiting for them in the stands of the football stadium. Steve could feel the nervousness thrumming through his body and he didn't even really know why. Grace was Danny's heart and soul, so it meant a lot that he was allowing them to meet her. But Steve wanted her to like them, like him. He wanted her approval, because maybe, just maybe, her approval will mean her fathers approval and then Danny would start softening up towards him. His wolf already felt protective of the little girl and they hadn't even met her yet. 

He seen Danny coming down the stairs towards their seats. 

"Sorry we're late," Danny apologized. They all greeted him back as he and Grace sat down. She didn't look much like Danny, with the long dark hair. She must get that from her mom. He breathed in her scent and his wolf both perked up and relaxed at the new smell. She smelt human, but there were other scents on her too. Definitely Danny's and Rachel's, since she was their kid, but there were others, a more wolves and a few humans. Probably friends of hers. 

"Hey, Gracie. I'm Steve. It's great to meet you finally. Your dad, he talks about you all the time," Steve said, shaking her hand. 

"Talks about you a lot, too," Grace commented, with all the innocence of a child. 

Everybody laughed as Danny blushed and resolutely looked away from everyone. Steve intently at Danny's head as he replied, "Really? Does he now?" 

Danny still did not give any eye contact as he said, "We, uh, we commiserate. It's a father-daughter thing." 

Kno and Chin introduced themselves and after shaking Chin's hand, Grace asked, "Are you a football player?"

Chin explained that he used to be that he played quarterback for the team wearing red jerseys. Steve decided to preen a bit by throwing in that Chin used to be a legend too until he broke all of his records. Kono commented on Grace's outfit and Steve watched Danny stiffen up and answer that he had to pick Grace up from tennis practice at the country club. 

"What's wrong with tennis, Danny?" Steve asked, fully aware that it was about to start another rant.

Danny geared up for a rant and covered Grace's ears with his hands as he answered, "I'll tell you what's wrong with tennis. It can be played on a table, which makes it an activity, not a sport. You throw the ball, I catch the ball, that is a sport. It's my duty as a father to teach my daughter the difference."

"Dad, I can still hear you," Grace said.   
Danny uncovered her ears and said, "Well, you're not supposed to be listening to me, huh? You're supposed to be paying attention, 'cause it's football. It's a sport."

Grace complained that she was hungry and after a cute little father daughter banter Danny decided to get food. Steve asked for some nachos as well which Danny surprisingly agreed to without much of a fuss and they left. As they were walking up to the food stand Danny seen two suspicious guys who happened to be carrying guns and he asked a lady to take Grace into the bathroom and not come out until he came back for them. Then he phoned Steve as he headed back out to the field, this time though not going for the seats but for the actual football field. He let him know there were guys strapped and something was going to happen. As the guys pulled their guns, Danny yelled that there was a gun and then the sounds of gunshots could be heard. One guy went down as everyone started running for the exit. They got the two guys and one got away that Chin took off after. As soon as they were caught Steve told Danny to go get Grace which he did and had a brief moment of panic when she wasn't in the bathroom. Luckily, she was in the crowd outside and she was perfectly safe. 

~~~~~~

Steve watched Danny across the parking lot talking on the phone. He had a pinched face and his hands were flailing. He could hear faint bits of conversation. He tried to listen while he was talking to the quarterback who got shot. 

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life. Violence follows me? I mean, how do you even come up with something like that? No, what happened here has nothing to do with my job. In fact, it is just the opposite, okay? She is safe because I am a cop. Huh? You know, I can't, I can't even do this right now. She'll be there in five minutes. An officer's bringing her home. Yeah. Good-bye," Danny said, pocketing his phone. He shook his head and walked back over to Steve and his team, who were talking to witnesses and the quarterback from the team. 

"Can't wait to meet your ex," Steve retorted. 

"Yeah, the two of you can plan my demise," Danny replied sarcastically. 

~~~~~~  
After dealing with Chin and his host of family problems, which they now knew more about, they moved on to try and find out more about the gang war. Steve and Danny discovered a pizza place was selling guns to the gang so they decided to investigate.

“You know what? This place actually sounds all right,” Steve said, grinning. Danny agreed with him and Steve continued talking, “It says here they fly in the water.”

“That's great. Yeah. This town could use a good slice. It's a shame we got to put them out of business,” Danny replied. 

“You should try lolani's in Waikiki. They do the best ham and pineapple on the lsland...” Steve got cut off by Danny yelling, “Oh! Oh!” 

Steve put his hand near where his gun was resting on his hip as he looked around wildly and said, “What?” 

“Let me explain something to you, okay? Pizza is mozz, sauce and dough. That is it. All right, you want to put a pepperoni on your slice that's fine, but ham, out. Fruit, out. Okay, I don't care where we are. Pizza and pineapple do not belong in the same airspace,” Danny answered, waving his hand around so to make his point stronger. 

Steve looked at him blankly and replied, “I…uh, I guess you feel quite strongly about this.”

Before Dany could retort, his phone went off with the sound of a funeral song. Steve asked, “That's cute. Did your ex get a new one, too?” 

Danny fumbled with his phone to answer it as he replied back to Steve and then answered the phone call. “No, it's... miserable attorney……Yes, Lord Vader. Is that a joke? Yeah, over my dead body. Let me explain to you why. She is my daughter too, okay? I don't care. Hey, hey! Listen to me! You scumbag. You low-life, miserable, money-suck-- Hello? Hello?! Uh! Uh!” 

“What’s up?” Steve asked. Danny looked at the phone incredulously as if he didn’t expect to be hung up on.

“Rachel is trying to take me back to court over visitation, because she says that it is not safe for Grace to be around me. Like the football shooting was my fault,” Danny replied, tightness in his face. Steve felt his chest tighten a little bit. He had only met Grace once so far but that was enough to solidify that she was family now too and the thought of her being taken away from Danny both angered him and made him morose. 

He started thinking about what he could do as he replied to Danny. “Aw, man... I'm sorry.”

~~~~~~

After getting nowhere with the owner of said pizza store, Danny agreed to let Steve try to get the information they needed out of him in Steve’s way. Which is how they find themselves on a boat speeding away from land with the owner, Joey, tied up in the back as Steve drove. 

“You guys have been watching too many gangster movies,” the pizzeria owner stated. 

“Yeah? How’d you figure?” Danny asked. 

“This whole death march routine. Like I'm supposed to believe a couple of cops are going to cap me and dump me in the ocean. Please,” Joey scoffed, though that was just a front. Anyone with eyes could see that Joey was seconds away from pooping his pants. 

“But we're not going to kill you, Joey,” Steve chirped in, grinning like the maniac he was.   
“Phew, that's a load off,” Joey replied sarcastically, still gazing into the ocean with fear in his eyes. 

“Hey. Joey, you got an 'aumakua?” Steve suddenly asked after a few minutes of silence. 

Joey looked offended and replied angrily, “What'd you call me?” 

“An 'aumakua,” Steve stated. 

“No… what's an 'aum... what's that?” Joey asked. 

Steve looked gleeful as he explained, “Some Hawaiians believe that the spirits of their ancestors appear in other living forms. Oh, for instance, like a shark. Right? And that those animals, those specific animals, will be there to protect them in times of need.” 

Danny looked plainly between Steve and the restaurant owner and said, “Looks like you could use one of those 'aumakuas right about now, Joey.”

“Hey... What the hell, man? Those dolphins? Huh? Hey, hey. Tell me those are dolphins! Hey, hey, hey, hey. Are those sharks? No! No!” Joey started yelling as Steve pulled up beside a cage in the water and stopped the boat. 

Steve hauled Joey up from his comfy position on the floor of the boat towards the cage in the water. “Come on, Joey.”

Joey started yelling as Steve threw him into the water in the cage and backed away and went over to the front and started moving the boat away. “You let us know when you're ready to talk, Joey.”

Joey continued yelling as they pulled away from the cage, leaving the sharks to start swarming the cage. Which is when Danny realized Steve actually meant to leave the guy in the cage and he started yelling at Steve to hold up and wait. They could still hear Joey yelling as they pulled away from the cage. 

“Let me ask you a question. Are you literally insane?”

Steve stopped the boat and turned it off and then fixed a look on Danny before replying, “Oh, relax. It's a cage for tourists. They're... they're homeless Galapagos sharks. They're not man-eaters.” They could Joey yelling again in the distance as Steve grinned and continued, “Joey doesn't know that, though. Hey, you want a beer?”

Danny shrugged and said “Sure. To, uh... to Joey.” 

Joey continued to thrash uselessly and yell at them to come back. “Hey, what are you going to do about your ex, man?” Steve asked, serious all of a sudden.

“I don’t know. Gracie… she's my life. If I lose her, I got no reason to be here. I'd be alone on this island,” Danny replied as he stared out at the water thoughtfully. Steve gazed at him, his heart breaking for his partner, who love his daughter so much that he moved all the way out into the middle of the ocean so he could see her for a weekend every two weeks. Danny was a great father but what could Steve do about it? He had so many connections, yet he felt helpless to solve this problem. Then he got an idea. He needed to make a phone call once they got back to the office. 

As Joey continued to yell, Steve chuckled and said, “Well, you still got Joey.”

Danny chuckled and looked down at his beer. “Yeah.” 

Joey continued to yell and the partners laughed to themselves and Danny said, “We should go get him.”

Steve started the boat again and headed back towards the cage. Joey immediately looked relived as they pulled up next to the cage and he made to started climbing into the boat. Steve and Danny both held up hands and looked at him as if to say that he needed to do something first. Joey got it, so he decided to talk. He explained about the Samoans and their gambling operation and the fact that he was working for Frank Salvo, who was a crime boss back on the mainland in Jersey. Danny seemed to know of him and the look on his face as he talked about Salvo said he’d had a run in with this guy, and it didn’t turn out well. Which made Steve start wondering what the hell they’d gotten themselves into.


	6. Catherine's Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I don't own anything! Thank you for the reviews!
> 
> Sidenote: Yes Catherine is in this story. No, she is not a romantic interest. I actually enjoyed writing her and I enjoy her character on the show. I would prefer Steve and Danno got together but I mean...what can you do?

Chapter 6

The fact that Sid, who was Chin and Kono’s cousin was an undercover might make it easier to catch the guys. They had their way in, or at least Steve, Danny, and Kono did. Chin on the other hand had to deal with being shut out again.

When Steve picked Danny up he had to swallow hard and focus on other things. He had known his partner was attractive, at least in the objective sense. Seeing Danny all cleaned up and in a suit not for work left his throat dry and his pants a little tighter then they were before. He considered it strange, not because he’d never found men attractive before, but because it was Danny. Was this why his wolf was acting this way? He doubted it, his wolf had never acted like that for others he found attractive.

When they pulled up beside those girls at the stoplight and Danny looked like he was about to foam at the mouth at them, Steve had to smirk and drive away. Danny was his, and his only. His wolf agreed. And now where would that thought come from? Steve didn’t know but as long as his wolf was happy, he was happy.

His wolf was no longer happy watching Danny and Kono make out as a distraction. It growled and paced in his mind, wanting to be let out and rip Kono to shreds. Instead he focused on their job, to get Salvo. He pushed his wolf to the back of his mind and told him to stand down. They didn’t have time for this. As Chin managed to get the last shot in and saved Sid’s life, Steve looked over to where Danny and Kono had been, noting they were separated and Danny was holding his gun. He nodded to himself. Good. This was good. 

~~~~~~

Steve knew the moment he seen Danny walk into the office that he had been to his ex's house. He looked like a man on a mission.

"Rachel is dropping the suit," Danny announced.

"Good, that's good Danno," Steve replied, knowing full well what this was leading up to.

"You. You talked to the Governor didn't you?" Danny asked.

"I don't..." Steve began but Danny cut him off.

"Yeah you do. Don't deny it. I go to Rachel's to plead my case only to see government vehicles leaving her house and her lawyer over the intercom telling me Rachel is dropping the suit. Who else has close enough ties to the Governor and knows my situation, Steven? That, my friend, would be you," Danny explained.

"Okay. I may have made a phone call," Steve admitted. He got ready for another launch into a Danny rant. 

Danny's face softened just a bit. "Thank you," Danny said.

"Did you just lose a piece of your soul by appreciating me?" Steve grinned.

Danny held up his thumb and first finger with almost no space between them and replied, "Just a little."

"You're welcome, Danno. Maybe you aren't alone here as you think you are," Steve replied, smiling softly at Danny. Danny gave him a thoughtful look back and nodded once to show his acceptance of that fact. 

~~~~~~

When Steve picked Catherine up he expected to feel joyous and happy. He was finally about to relieve the tension that had worked up since he had gotten back to Hawaii. That didn't seem like it was going to be the case though, if what he was feeling now was any indication.

It felt wrong to be sitting beside Catherine, it felt awkward. He thought it was just the separation affecting his feelings but his wolf was in a corner snarling at him. Telling him he shouldn't be hugging or touching Catherine. He didn't understand.

Catherine didn't seem to notice his behaviour, for which he was grateful for. He didn't know what was wrong with him. 

"I know you're not normally talkative but you seem kind of quiet," Catherine commented.

"Just tired," Steve replied.

"Also distracted. Is everything okay?" Catherine asked.

"Nothing’s wrong," Steve replied quickly. Too quickly. 

"O...kay. Look, we've been friends for what? 8 years now? I know your tells Steve. Something's wrong. You know you can tell me," Catherine said.

Steve took a breath. "Nothing's...nothing is wrong. I'm just tired. Starting a new task force is a lot. Plus trying to answer the questions my dad left behind. It's just a lot," Steve answered.

"That's right. Your dads tool box. Any connection between the items yet?" Catherine asked.

"No. I don't know what or why he had these things. Just that he wanted me to find them. He left me with more questions than answers. It seems like he was trying to solve something. A case he was working on before he died. I'm just stuck trying to put the pieces together," Steve explained.

"Okay. Is that all that's bothering you?" Cath asked.

Steve gave her a sideways look. How did she know? It couldn't be that obvious, could it? "Yeah. That's all," Steve answered.

"Okay, I'm just concerned. That's all," Cath replied.

"Thanks Cath, but I'm fine. I promise. Hey, want to meet the team tomorrow?" Steve asked. 

"Sure Steve," Cath replied, smiling softly at him.

~~~~~~

When Steve woke up the next morning, he realized immediately he wasn't alone. His wolf was unhappy, but Steve didn't know what to do about that. He looked over to the other side of the bed and seen Cath sleeping soundly.

Oh right. Cath came back. That's right. Last night seemed awkward. He still tried to go on as if nothing had changed, but he knew Cath could tell something was different. He hoped she believed that it was just starting a new task force and getting organized for that while trying to deal with his Dad's mystery. He didn't know for sure if she believed him, she didn't seem like it after he explained it in the truck on the way back to his place. However, she didn't continue to push him, for which he was grateful. Because honestly he couldn't tell her what was wrong. He didn't know why he felt the way he did.

He snuggled up closer to her back, to the absolute disgust of his wolf. She sighed and turned her head around, kissing him gently on the cheek. "Morning sailor," she greeted.

"Mm morning," he replied, nuzzling into her hair. 

"If you're trying to distract me away from asking, good luck. I know I asked yesterday but are you sure everything is okay? You seemed distracted last night. You know that if you've started seeing someone we can stop this. You can tell me, I won't be hurt by it. I mean...I'll miss this but if you're happy then I'm happy," Cath stated.

"It's too early for this, can't we go back to sleepy morning sex?" Steve asked, burying his face away so she couldn't see it as she rolled over to face him.

"We could. But that would just be a momentary thing. I'm not likely to forget it. I won't let this go. I just want to be sure you're okay. Or as okay as you can be right now. I know it's a lot, but we're friends first remember? That's what we always agreed to. I don't want to push you, but if I don't you bottle things and then it explodes. I don't want that to happen. I only have a couple of days on leave, I want to make sure you're okay," Cath said.

As Steve was about to reply that yes he was fine, which would be a lie, okay he knew that, his phone rang. They had a case.

~~~~~~

After settling the case, in which Steve now owed Cath more favours, he decided to introduce her to the team. She was a long time friend, and he wanted to make sure she felt comfortable around his team. Being that Chin, Kono, and Catherine were all wolves, it made sense that they know her scent and they know hers. And he wanted Cath to meet Danny, he didn’t know why, but he needed her to meet him.

They all met at Steve’s house, they decided on dinner and beer on his lanai, a nice easy get together. Danny had pegged him as happy earlier that day, to which he wanted to deny but his body felt more relaxed now that he’d gotten some tension out of the way. However, he happened to feel even more tense for different reasons now.

Kono was the first to arrive, and he introduced her to Cath. They seemed to get along, which was per usual for Beta wolves. Alphas were the ones who were considered the hot heads. Betas seemed to ride the easy going wave. The majority of wolves in Hawaii were Betas, they seemed to find it easy to live in the area. Omegas weren’t seen too often, people tended to think of them as the lower part of the food chain but any wolf would tell you that Omegas are the ones who keep the Alphas in line. Many Omegas were family oriented, though that didn’t mean any other wolf couldn’t be, but Omegas tended to be the ones who had children. Steve knew that Danny, were he to be a wolf, would likely be a Omega with Alpha tendencies. He didn’t take bullshit, but he loved his daughter; therefore he was the best of both worlds really.

The next to arrive was Chin, who again got along famously with Cath, not that Steve was shocked. Both Kono and Chin had easy going personalities, and tended to go with the flow, making meeting people fairly easy. Danny was the last to arrive, Steve could hear the purr of the camaro as it pulled into his driveway.

He didn’t even have a chance of opening the door as his partner strolled in like he owned the place and greeted Steve with, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at the door to greet your guests?”

Steve scowled at Danny and then replied, “Yeah, the polite ones who knock first instead of barging into someone else’s home.”

“May I remind you of the day we met? You walked into my apartment before I could even tell you no.”

“I also knocked on the door first. I love how you conveniently left that part out.”

“Potato, potahto. That’s beside the point. Since you decided to barge into my home, I decided you wouldn’t mind if I did the same. Tit for tat, am I right?” Danny replied, smiling at the other guests. Then he laid eyes on Catherine who was watching the exchange with something akin to interest in her eyes as well as a tiny bit of shock for the amount of sass Danny had to the man who was essentially his boss. “Steve, how rude, first you don’t greet me at the door and now you don’t introduce me to your guest? You really were raised by wolves. Hi, I’m Danny, Steve’s kidnapped partner.” He stuck his hand out for Catherine to shake. 

Catherine took his hand gladly, amused at the whole situation and replied, “Nice to meet you Danny, I’m Catherine. I was in the Navy with Steve.”

“Pleasure’s all mine. Navy, huh? Funny, you seem quite a bit more human…not to mention polite. How’d that happen?”

Steve looked ready to bolt at Danny’s words but Cath just laughed at it like she was actually enjoying this man being rude to Steve. This was not going how he wanted it to go. Not…not that he knew how he wanted it to go but this was definitely not how he wanted it to go. 

“Navy Intelligence. That guy over there is a SEAL. Totally different species,” Cath retorted, grinning.

Steve should be happy really, that two of the most important and constant people in his life are getting along but he just couldn’t. Well, that’s not to say he wasn’t unhappy, he just wasn’t all the way happy. His wolf however, was content, watching from the sidelines as Cath and Danny bonded. After bickering more like an old married couple, they headed out to the lanai and had dinner, Danny having stopped for beer on the way over which was why he was later. 

Everyone left just after 10pm and Steve and Cath cleaned up what was left of the dishes and headed to bed. 

“So that was your team.”

“Yeah. That was my team.”

“I like Kono and Chin. Both wolves huh?” Cath asked.

“Yeah, the whole family is a mix of humans and wolves. Both of them turned out Betas,” Steve explained.

“And Danny’s…human,” Cath noted.

Steve didn’t say anything, he just stared at the ceiling. He didn’t really want an analysis of his team or the way they were with each other. It just was and that was that. 

“He’s interesting. Certainly has you on your toes anyway. I like him,” Cath said, after seeing Steve wasn’t going to reply to her. 

“Of course you do,” Steve retorted.

“Look, I’m just saying, you asked me to meet them to get my opinion on them…”

“I did not ask you to meet them for that.”

“You asked me to meet them for my opinion. So I’m telling you. I like them all. I think you’ve built a really great team here. You have two subordinates who follow rules. One who’s been a cop for years and served with your dad. One who’s a rookie and has fresh eyes for the job. It’s a good balance. You have a man you coerced into being your partner who is human and doesn’t abide by our rules. He doesn’t know that as alpha there are certain guidelines to follow. He stands up to you and calls you out on your bullshit,” Cath analyzed and then she took a look at Steve and said, “I think he’ll be good for you.”

Steve whipped his head towards her and asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Because Steve, you need someone to remind you that you’re human. You aren’t just an Alpha, you aren’t just a werewolf. You are a human who lost both of his parents. That’s not something to be overlooked. Danny is a human who expresses his emotions loudly, and maybe that’s what you need to break that hard shell you’ve wrapped yourself in.”

Steve looked at Cath, seen that she was telling the truth but feeling like she was holding something back and decided not to push it. He had had enough emotional talk for one night. He rolled over on top of her, to the not delight of his wolf, and proceeded to kiss her until she couldn’t remember what she was talking about before.


	7. Meka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, not stealing characters, just borrowing. 
> 
> I'm also sorry it has been such a long time since I updated this. Life got away from me and I don't really have an excuse other than I've been busy.

Chapter 7

When Danny's partner from HPD turned up dead, the team dynamic was tested. Danny was close to the guy, and wanted to believe that he was a good person, Steve meanwhile was left with a level head to consider the what if. He didn't want Danny's ex-partner to be guilty of being a mole, but he couldn't deny the facts that all the evidence was pointing that way. 

It also didn't help that Steve felt jealous, he wasn't sure why. Meka was a good guy it seemed, and had treated Danny with respect which was more than could be said of other HPD officers. Just because Danny was from the mainland, a haole. Danny seemed to have a loyalty to this guy and his family and it made Steve jealous. Despite the fact that their partnership was volatile at best, and how well it started when they first met, Steve found he wanted Danny's loyalty. He wondered if the same thing happened to him if Danny would be this adamant that he was a good guy.

Steve hoped so. He wanted to believe that him and Danny had started off rocky but were coming to an understanding. Steve still did crazy stuff and disregarded rights and regulations and Danny yelled and ranted at him but at the end of the day they had each other's backs. He hoped that counted for something. 

What he started to realize is that his wolf seemed to be reacting to Danny, and his presence seemed to have an effect on the wolf. He didn't know why though. Why did Danny seem to make his wolf both stir crazy and content at the same time? He didn't get it. He did know one thing...the jealousy? It wasn't just the human side that was feeling, his wolf was feeling it too. 

~~~~~~

"If my word is not good enough for you then I do not know what I'm doing here," Danny said, frustrated and upset before walking away. 

Steve stared after him with distress written all over his face. He didn't know how it had gotten to that point. He just wanted Danny to understand what the evidence was saying. Isn't that what cops go by? Wasn't that what Danny kept preaching to him? To go by the facts? The one time he does it and it blows up in his face. Danny was too close to this.

Steve walked back to his office and felt distressed about Danny walking away from him. How does he fix this? He doesn't know what to do to fix it.

He stared at nothing and thought about Danny until he heard a knock on the door that startled him out of his thoughts. 

"Hey. You okay?" Chin asked.

"I feel bad. Meka was Danny's friend, and we're doubting him," Steve replied.

"No we're doing our jobs. Meka was Danny's friend, and we're following the evidence. Don't doubt yourself because of that," Chin said.

Steve still looked doubtful, he didn't want to hurt Danny's feelings. That wasn't what he was doing. He felt bad that he doubted Danny's word but what else was he supposed to do?

"I need to talk to him. What do I say though?" Steve asked.

"Let me talk to him. It might come out better from someone who's dealt with these people. He needs to know that his friendship with Meka isn't bad, that the fact that he doesn't doubt for a moment that Meka was a good man is something we all wished we had when we go through I.A. But you set off his buttons, so let it come from me," Chin said.

Steve nodded. "Okay."

~~~~~~

Steve found out Danny was going to see Sang Min, probably to try and see if he would tell him who was the leak in HPD. He wished his partner had told him, so that he could have been there to help him.

When he saw Danny walk out of the prison fences he knew straight away he didn't get the information he wanted. Danny had that tight pinched look on his face of frustration. He slowed down a step when he noticed Steve leaning against his car.

"What are you doing here?" Danny asked, continuing to walk towards the car.

"Sang Min not give you anything?" Steve replied.

"No. How'd you know I'd be here?" Danny retorted.

"Had a feeling," Steve replied. Steve got quiet for a bit, he didn’t know how to say sorry to his partner, he never wanted the other man to feel like he doubted him. “Look, Danny…”

“Let’s say IA accused me of skimming off a drug bust. And they showed you the evidence that suggests I did it. Would you believe them?” Danny asked suddenly.

Steve looked away before answering, “No, I wouldn’t”

“Why not?” Danny asked. He was trying to prove a point about this whole thing, Steve knew. He got it, he understood. Steve wouldn’t believe them about Danny because he knew him and he knew that Danny wasn’t that sort of person. He could feel Danny watching him so he looked back to him and looked him right in the eyes. “Exactly,” Danny finished.

After feeling like a puppy who'd been thoroughly scolded they agreed to the next steps. Steve was willing to accept the opinion that Meka may not be the mole. But if he wasn't, then someone else in the Honolulu Police Department was. 

~~~~~~

Steve had never felt prouder than when they could prove that Danny's theory was right and Meka really was innocent. Seeing the look on Danny's face when they went to HPD and confronted Kaleo about being the mole made him happy. He had made Danny happy, which made his wolf preen and purr. He knew he still needed to apologize for doubting Danny, and he knew exactly when and where he would show him how sorry he was.

He dressed up in his dress blues and met Chin and Kono at Meka's house for the memorial. They walked in and stood off to the side, the cops not acknowledging Chin at all which forced them into being outliers. He seen Danny talking to Meka's wife and son, but he didn't want to intrude so he waited. Ultimately though his wife noticed them standing there while she hugged Danny and alerted them to their presence. Danny turned towards them in surprise, which made Steve feel worse. Danny shouldn't be surprised that he would be there for his partner, no his friend. 

Danny walked over and hugged Kono and Chin before turning to Steve. 

"I know you didn't know him, but thank you for being here," Danny stated. 

"I know you," Steve replied, and he watched Danny smile softly at him, and he knew he had been forgiven.


	8. Rachel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: once again I don't own anything. Chapters are not betaed, I edit my own stories. 
> 
> AN: I'm not quite happy with the ending of this chapter, and it ends kind of abruptly, which I apologize for. 
> 
> Read and review!

Chapter 8

The first few months of their partnership were rocky. Danny didn't appreciate Steve's tactics to get suspects to talk or his blatant disregard for the Miranda rights. Steve purposely made Danny mad in order to get one of his rants, which he found amusing. It was mostly just an antagonizing partnership. 

Then they started settling into a routine with each other. They even came to start enjoying working with each other. Steve had never felt more calm then he did when he was with Danny. Well his wolf never did. And it growled at him everytime his partner was in the line of fire. He still didn't understand why his wolf was acting this way. At first Danny made his wolf feel restless but now all it felt was...calm and protective over the man. He himself felt inner peace around the man, and he often now did things to start a Danny rant to settle the beast inside him. That all came crashing down the day Steve met Danny's lovely ex-wife. 

When Danny took a deep breath as they turned on the street their suspects were supposedly living, Steve waited with bated breath for what Danny was gonna say next. As they pulled up to the house that was registered in the thieves names, Steve realized right away there would be no way to surveil them from the street without being obvious. So when Danny told him to pull up to the next house in a tense voice Steve got curious. This was kind of a fancy neighbourhood for Danny. 

"Just...pull up to the next house okay. I know someone," Danny said exasperatedly.

"This is...a little out of your price range isn't it, Danno?" Steve asked, looking at the gates houses around them.

"Just. Don't. Pull up, for the love of God," Danny replied, putting his elbow on the car door and rubbing at his temple like he had a headache.

"Okay but Danny, who do you know in this neighbourhood?" Steve asked.

Danny didn't reply at first, staying quiet and then taking a deep breath and muttering, "The spawn of satan."

Steve looked at his partner, noting the tense lines on his face and frown pulling at his lips. Usually he only made that face for one person. His ex. Fuck. 

"Your ex lives here?" Steve asked, pulling up to the next gate. 

"Yeah. Her and her new husband and my daughter," Danny murmured. 

"Wow. Maybe we're in the wrong business," Steve replied, mostly joking to try and lighten the tension but Danny's shoulders stayed tense and straight as he got out of the car. Steve watched him walk up to the speaker and press a button. He didn't want to intrude on the conversation so he kept the windows up. 

He watched Danny lean one hand against the wall and talk into the speaker, his other hand gesturing. Whatever the voice was saying on the other line was agitating Danny more. Steve didn't know what he was talking about but he had an idea of what it could be considering this house was right next to the criminals and they had no way of watching them. Considering how difficult his ex had been in the time that Steve had known him so far, he wasn't as shocked as he could have been but still. Her daughter was living right next door to these people, it should have been enough to let them do what they needed to do. Danny opened the door and got back in as the gate opened. 

"What did you tell her?" Steve asked.

"I was trying to fight to even speak to her. She kept sending the person back to the speaker saying she couldn't speak to me for some reason or another. I finally just told her it was important and I needed to speak to her about possible criminals living next door. She decided that was important enough I guess," Danny replied.

Steve pulled the car into the driveway and they got the surveillance equipment out of the trunk of the car. Steve stood at the bottom of the stairs as Danny went up and rang the doorbell. This house was huge for three people. 

A tall, slim brunette woman answered the door. He could smell wolf as she opened the door but he couldn't quite tell if it was her that was the wolf or someone else in the household was. 

"Daniel," she said in a British accent.

"Hey Rachel. We need to commandeer a room upstairs to surveil the people next door," Danny said quickly.

"Excuse me, you need to do what? There is a such thing as manners, Daniel," she replied haughtily, then turned her attention to Steve. "Manners also mean introducing one to guests. This must be your partner." 

"This is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. And yes, he's my partner," Danny replied, tersely. "Back to the matter at hand..."

"What Danny means is that we need your help. You have potential criminals living in the house next door. We need somewhere to be able to watch them to figure out what they're planning and when. Please, you have Grace. You want her to be safe, right?" Steve explained in a softer tone. 

Rachel seemed to hesitate, whether at the presence of Danny still standing stiffer than a board in front of the open door or Steve who was staring at her pleadingly, he didn't know. Then she finally stepped back and opened the door wider, beckoning them in. 

Danny helped pick up the bags and walked past her and Steve followed with a quiet thank you behind him as she closed the door and led them upstairs. Steve could smell wolf, it permeated the house. He already knew Grace wasn't one. And the smell clung to Rachel so it was obviously someone she was around a lot. Perhaps her husband, who Steve had yet to meet as well.

"This is our bedroom, but it's the only one that directly looks over their property," Rachel explained.

"Thank you. One more question. The neighbours, what can you tell us about them?" Steve asked as he set bags down and started taking out equipment.

"Not much. They're renters, very quiet. Keep to themselves mostly," Rachel answered with her arms across her chest.

"Wait, wait. Renters? What does that mean?" Danny asked abruptly.

"It means, Daniel, that they only rent the house. Likely for a few months. We have a few around here. They come and go. Usually when it's winter on the mainland they come here for a few months. They keep quiet and to themselves. Usually don't talk much to permanent residents," Rachel explained, looking quite annoyed. "If there's nothing else I will take myself and Grace to a hotel for the night."

"No. Sorry Rachel, that's not something you can do," Danny said.

"And why not?" 

"Because any break in the routine could tip off the neighbours that something is wrong. It's better if you continue about your routine as if nothing's abnormal," Steve explained, feeling exhausted already from playing mediator.

"Why not take Grace to Andrea's? She's been talking about a sleep over with her for weeks," Danny suggested.

"Very well. I'll leave you to it and be back in a few hours," Rachel said and then walked out of the room.

Danny shook his head but continued to help Steve set up and program the equipment, adjusting the settings on the cameras and microphones. Then they settled down to wait. Steve of course felt antsy, he was in another wolfs territory and he didn't like it. The wolf had to be Stan as Rachel wasn't one and neither was Grace and this room smelt so much of the wolf that it almost made Steve choke. That wolf wouldn't be happy to find someone else had entered his den, especially one in which his wife inhabited.

"So that's Rachel," Steve stated.

"That's Rachel."

"Your ex. She's...uh...she's something," Steve commented, holding out the microphone towards the window and adjusting the dials to smooth out the sound. 

"Yeah."

"How'd you land her?" Steve asked, curiously.

"Ha ha very funny," Danny replied, rolling his eyes.

"No I'm serious. How'd you two meet? She seems very...sophisticated," Steve asked.

"Rachel. She was new to the states. Wasn't used to the roads and driving in the opposite side. It was busy and then she sees me, a cop and got flustered. She backed into a car," Danny explained.

"And you what? Asked her out after arresting her?" Steve asked.

"No the car she backed into was mine. So I offered her driving lessons. Driving lessons turned into coffee and coffee turned into dinners and dates and then she wakes up one day married to a cop."

"That doesn't seem so bad," Steve replied as he set the microphone down.

"No I, uh, didn't think so either but between the late nights and early mornings and the danger that I seem to attract and money not being what she was used to...we dissolved. Started fighting. Tried to keep it away from Grace as much as possible, but I know she heard some of it. There always was a passion between me and her, one day it went from the bedroom to our arguments and helped to end our marriage. I don't regret it though, despite everything that happened because I got Grace out of it," Danny explained.

"That sucks man. I'm sorry. For what's it's worth though, being married to a cop? Not all bad. She just wasn't strong enough to handle it," Steve said. He tried to be reassuring but was pretty sure that wasn't the case. Danny grimaced but didn't say anymore about it. 

From there Steve and Danny both kept watch, listening to see if there was any talk of any sort of plans for the race. Unfortunately the thieves were actually training and weren't talking about mysterious plans to take over the world. Rachel at one point came back and offered them tea which Danny gave her a look and she told him not to make fun of her. Steve thought it was nice, he had visited England at one point and really enjoyed the tea in the afternoon. 

He politely declined at first, wanting to be as gracious as he could. This was, after all, someone else's home they were invading to do their recon. He wouldn't want to upset its owner anymore than Danny already had just by breathing. 

When the renters left, Danny took a chance and went to the house next door to try and find clues. Rachel came into the room and was staring down at the image of Danny running across the yard.

"What is that?" she asked.

"That's Danny," Steve replied.

"You mean he's over there...in that house with them?" she asked, concern leaking into her voice.

"Yes he is but they aren't home. He's in no danger. He's a good detective," Steve replied, looking over at her to take in the concern and concentration on her face. She still cares about her ex after all. The thought of that made Steve uncomfortable. 

They both watched him for a few seconds before Rachel broke the silence. "You're a wolf, aren't you Commander?"

Steve almost dropped the radar on the ground in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy with me, Commander. I've seen the way it looks. As you probably know by now, Stan is a wolf. An Alpha. I would hazard a guess that is what you are as well," Rachel commented, not breaking her gaze from the screen where they could both see Danny moving through the house. 

"Ma'am..."

"It's Mrs. actually. You don't have to tell me, but I already know. And I've already let Stan know so you don't have to worry about an angry wolf showing up on your doorstep for invading his den," Rachel explained. 

Before he could reply there came a call from Chin saying that the others were on their way back. Steve radioed Danny and told him to get out of there but Danny wanted to get one more bit of proof. A flash drive. He hid in a closet just as the suspects got into the house and waited on the hope that they would be quick and leave the area. They didn't and they headed right for the kitchen. Rachel came up with an idea for a distraction so they could get Danny out of there and she left the room, leaving Steve to continue watching Danny. 

~~~~~~

When Danny and Rachel came back, Steve noticed a change between them. They looked more friendly, more united then they had before. He wondered what they had talked about downstairs. He could have listened in but he had never been a fan of eavesdropping so he chose not to do it as much as possible. It did make him feel uneasy because Danny and Rachel had history, a marriage and a daughter together and the fact that they went from snarling cats to friendly birds made him feel…not exactly jealous but uncomfortable. 

He decided to do his job and try to forget about these feelings he was having. It wouldn’t do to get too attached to Danny, he would just be another person who left him in the end. In the end they managed to get the thieves. It took them all splitting up to get each cyclist, but in the end they caught them.


End file.
